Well to say I’m having a blast with the new MP modes in Call of Duty: MW2 would be an understatement. 3rd person moshpit and Invasion have devoured the majority of my leisure gaming time. However, all this is about to change. On November 16th Warzone 2.0 will arrive along with the open-world DMZ mode. I’m particularly more interested in the DMZ as it could be an absolute game changer IF it’s able to pull off everything developer Infinity Ward has planned.
With that said, the 2 main questions I get asked now are what is the DMZ? And what’s new in Warzone 2.0? So, I decided to put together a quick key features sheet from the official COD website and Infinity Ward press release for the 2 modes which should give you a good understanding of what to expect. OH, and yes, they are both free to play!
What’s new in Warzone 2.0
- Al Mazrah, Home of Warzone 2.0: Use 18 major points of interest to plot out your victory in Battle Royale or explore them en route to extraction in the brand-new DMZ experience.
- A Shift in Perspective: Third-Person Playlists Coming In-Season to Warzone 2.0: For the first time in Warzone history, we welcome fans of third-person Battle Royale action during Season 01.
- Aquatic Combat, New Vehicles, and Fuel Mechanic
Whether by boat or breaststroke, Operators can navigate waterways, rivers, and the open sea as part of their overall victory strategy. Remember only Sidearms, melee weapons, and Throwing Knives can be used while you’re submerged. Also, try using Lethal and Tactical Equipment on or underwater for a wide variety of potentially destructive effects.
- Shops – Players can use in-match Cash at the Shops (the new name for the Buy Station) to purchase their Primary Weapon from their created Loadouts.
- Loadout Drop Public Event – Loadout Drops will drop into Al Mazrah in the middle of Battle Royale matches. However, these are not limited or assigned to individual squads, but instead can be accessed by any player.
- Strongholds and Black Sites – Players can also earn their Loadout in the early game as a reward for clearing a Stronghold or a Black Site.
New Gulag
The Gulag will be a 2v2 environment where randomly paired Duos must coordinate to take down their opposition. All players will receive a predefined Loadout — at launch, this will be a Pistol or a Shotgun, a Lethal Grenade, and a Tactical Grenade — with highly effective weaponry and gear placed toward the map’s center.
The Gulag will also include a Jailer, who will appear in the middle of the match to help speed up combat. Defeating the Jailer will return all four Gulag prisoners back to the Battle Royale, which offers a dilemma: Do both Duos agree to wait and fight this powerful enemy together, or does one get greedy and try to go for the elimination victory?
The Gulag is just one of three places where players can fight AI combatants, as they will be restricted to guard specific locations. The other two locations are Strongholds and Black Sites, which are clearly designated on your in-game Tac-Map to allow you to opt-into engagements with AI combatants.
Warzone 2.0’s weapons, progression, and inventory systems will be tied to the new Modern Warfare II content and systems. This is due to a combination of feedback from the community, technical limitations, and a need to simplify the next and newest Warzone to create a seamless player experience moving forward.
DMZ (Demilitarized zone)
DMZ is an open-world, narrative-focused extraction mode where Operator squads have free rein to complete faction-based missions, take on additional side objectives, engage with enemy Operators or AI combatants, and search for valuable items, all while fighting to survive toward exfiltration.
- DMZ is a trios-based mode, with the option to play as a Solo or Duo by disabling squad fill. We recommend you start with trios as the Al Mazrah Exclusion Zone is a dangerous place.
- If your operator is killed while in DMZ all items picked up will be lost. In order to keep these items they must be extracted.
- In addition to the Backpack, players can exfil from the world with “on-soldier” items, including backpacks, self-revives, armor plate carriers, etc. This is critical for players looking to engage with high-tier enemies early in a match their next infil.
- Other than completing the objectives laid out in Faction Missions, players are also free to explore the Exclusion Zone to collect more items for their inventory and take on optional assignments. These can be completing Contracts, such as rescuing a hostage, taking down a high-value target, or taking part in a World Event, such as activating a SAM Turret or a UAV Tower.
- Like Warzone 2.0, players can expect logical looting– items that exist in Al Mazrah in places that may exist in the real world, such as medical supplies in a bathroom cabinet or hospital. A police station or military outpost may contain more tactical gear.
- DMZ involves keeping a Stash – or Inventory – of weapons and other valuable items from the Exclusion Zone. Players will start with a small inventory of free Contraband weapons. Contraband guns are only usable in DMZ, and if you lose them on the battlefield, they are gone forever. Weapons acquired from other players or enemies on the field are considered contraband after extracting with them.
- Those looking for an alternate path to unlocking weapons vs. traditional weapon XP through matches should be excited to plan their infils. Acquiring a contraband weapon will unlock the base weapon in Gunsmith (usable in Multiplayer and Battle Royale).
- Al Mazrah won’t have a circle collapse but players will need to monitor radiation as well as the occasional sandstorm. We don’t yet know what is causing this deadly energy, and what Operators may get from finding its source.
As you can see Warzone 2.0 has made some major changes and DMZ sounds like one hell of a good time. The question now is how will it play out. I’m no stranger to extraction modes and spent an unhealthy amount of time in Tom Clancy’s The Division 1+2 Dark Zone and experienced the positive & negative. The main negative is players who camp extraction points ambushing/robbing players of their hard-earned loot. Time will tell and I’m looking forward to grabbing some friends and dropping in on November 16th.
